Canadians frustrated over Trudeau's stance on border security

It’s remarkable that so many Canadians see through the Liberal spin and see this for what it really is.

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

By: Candice Malcolm

Canadians are tired of being treated as the world’s door mat.

Recent polls reflect the frustration many Canadians have with the Trudeau government’s approach to border security – or lack thereof. A new report from the Angus Reid Institute found that two-thirds of Canadians consider the influx of illegal border crossings to be a “crisis.” Six in 10 say that the government is “too generous” to asylum seekers, two-thirds say Canada is accepting too many migrants, and eight in 10 say we need to increase border security.

The poll also found that Canadians are paying attention to this issue – more than any other issue in the country – and that more Canadians trust Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer to handle the crisis than the Trudeau Liberals. This echoes a poll released earlier this summer by DART Insights revealing that 70% of Canadians don’t trust that Trudeau has a plan to deal with the crisis, and six in 10 say Trudeau is not handling the situation well.

In response to criticism they’ve received over this issue, Trudeau and his inner circle have lashed out at Canadians. In recent months, Trudeau has blamed the crisis on “conservatives” – who he accused of using “the politics of fear” and “pitting Canadians against each other.” He bizarrely said that “fear” is the biggest threat to national security in Canada. Meanwhile, Trudeau’s immigration minister called critics “un-Canadian,” and Trudeau’s top advisor Gerald Butts smeared critics as “alt-right” – a gang of shadowy internet trolls who promote anti-Semitism and white nationalism.

To call legitimate critics and mainstream Canadians “alt-right” is about as low as you can get. It’s almost as bad as the time Butts called those poking fun at Trudeau’s political correctness “Nazis.” The Liberal government is struggling to maintain legitimacy and has resorted to a juvenile smear campaign.

Fortunately for the Liberals, they have the media on their side, and mainstream media journalists have dutifully adopted Liberal government talking points. CBC, CTV, Global, the Star and the Globe and Mail have all picked up the terrible euphemism “irregular immigration” to obscure the fact that migrants are breaking Canadian law and an international treaty to enter Canada.

They push out convoluted stories arguing that Trudeau is right about Canada’s international obligations, while leaving out important details – including the fact that these laws allow Canada to reject migrants coming from safe countries like the United States. Many journalists incorrectly call asylum seekers “refugees” and others bend over backwards to insist there’s no crisis at the border.

It’s remarkable that so many Canadians see through the Liberal spin and see this for what it really is: an affront to the rule of law, and an insult to every new Canadian who played by the rules and came to Canada legally.

Last summer, a group of French Canadians gathered in Quebec to protest Trudeau’s border policies and demand that border laws be enforced. The media smeared the protestors as “far-right” and Trudeau himself called them “racist.” This summer, there was an even larger gathering in Markham, Ontario to oppose local schools being used as makeshift housing for asylum seekers. The protestors were Canadians of Chinese ancestry, and the media didn’t know what to make of it – so most ignored the story altogether.

Despite the best efforts of the Trudeau Liberals and their loyal band of journalists, Canadians still believe in borders – and we want ours protected.